Sheriffs are our LAST line of Defense

[melensdad]

Found this on the front page of "The Missoulian" newpaper.
Missoula MT.

Link: Missoulian: Local sheriffs are last defense, former lawman Mack says

Certainly wonder if it would be worthwhile to send copies of this book to all our county sheriffs . . . just in case.

Local sheriffs are last defense, former lawman Mack says
By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian



POLSON - From his patrol car, Richard Mack watched the old Datsun station wagon drive right through the stop sign in Provo, Utah.

The car was filled with rambunctious youngsters and one harried mother who, when she saw what she had done, and the police car parked nearby, threw her arms in the air in frustration and pulled over before Mack could even hit his lights and siren.

“It was a crappy old car, not worth $400,” Mack told about 50 people at the VFW post in Polson on Monday. “The kids were all fighting and crying, the woman didn't say a word, just handed me her license and registration and stared straight ahead.”

Mack said he had always been a by-the-book cop.

“When I was back in patrol it was all about bringing in the money, bringing in the numbers,” he said. “If you wrote 35 tickets a day you were a good cop.”

As he filled out his latest ticket, Mack said he looked at this woman and imagined she had probably been thinking her day couldn't get any worse - until he'd been parked where he was, and it did.

“Then I looked at myself,” Mack said. “I asked myself, ‘Am I doing anything to help this family? Am I making this town a better place to live? Am I making it safer? Am I bringing honor to my badge?' ”

What a true peace officer would do, Mack decided, was to suggest the woman swing by a nearby school playground and let the kids burn some energy while she regained her focus.

He tore up the ticket. The next day he went to the city clerk and asked to see the oath of office he had taken.

He'd sworn, he discovered, to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. And he'd sworn that he'd do so against enemies both foreign and domestic.

We know who America's foreign enemies are, Mack told the crowd.

The domestic enemy he fights today is a federal government he says is bent on taking away people's rights and freedoms.

And who can fight the massive federal government?

Your local sheriff, he said.

Mack - a former two-term sheriff in Graham County, Ariz., who along with former Ravalli County Sheriff Jay Printz, successfully sued the federal government when the Clinton administration demanded county sheriffs enforce provisions of the Brady Bill gun control law - said his movement seeks to target 1,000 sheriff races across the U.S. in 2010.

“We can have our country back,” Mack said, “but if you think the answer is in Washington, D.C., I've got beachfront in Oklahoma for you.”

All law enforcement officers, from the FBI down to the local meter maid, derive their powers from the people, Mack said, but the only law enforcement officers in the land who answer directly to the people are county sheriffs.

His book, “The County Sheriff, America's Last Hope” spells out why he believes sheriffs are the last line of defense for the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens.

While many of Mack's backers are gun owners who believe the country is taking away their Second Amendment rights, Mack said true “constitutional” sheriffs will protect the rights and freedoms of all Americans on any front.

“What would a constitutional sheriff have done in 1959?” Mack asked the crowd.

When the call came in to the Montgomery County, Ala., sheriff's office that a black woman was refusing to move to the back of the bus - as required by law - the sheriff would have arrived on the scene and talked to Rosa Parks.

“Ma'am, what's the problem,” a constitutional sheriff would have asked her, Mack said. Told she had taken an empty seat and just wanted to be left alone, the constitutional sheriff would have sat down next to her, ridden with her to her stop - and, once off, for good measure taken her into a whites-only restaurant so she could buy sandwiches for her and her husband.

He'd have then escorted her home, Mack said - asked if her husband was armed and could defend his family if anyone upset by what had happened came around and threatened them - and ordered extra patrols of the house.

“Remember, segregation wasn't a tradition, it was the law of the land,” Mack said. “Rosa Parks taught us what you do with stupid laws.”

Mack said the Constitution gives the federal government the authority to police exactly four areas: treason, piracy, treaty violations and counterfeiting.

“The other 5,000 they've stolen and usurped from state and local authorities,” he said. “The very people who have promised us they will protect and defend the Constitution are the ones who are destroying it.”

In his 49-page book, Mack quotes Founding Fathers who warned that a centralized power in government would lead to one, in Thomas Jefferson's words, “as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.”

Mack said the day he pulled over the car filled with fighting children and the exasperated mother launched him in a new direction - and the day he filed his lawsuit over the Brady Bill gave him a national platform for what he calls a “revolution.”

“I decided that day (he pulled the woman over) I was nothing but a liar and a hypocrite,” he said. It almost drove him from law enforcement, he added, “until I realized I don't have to quit my job, I just have to quit being a liar and a hypocrite.”

He remained in law enforcement for many more years, and believes all those who take an oath just like the ones he did in Utah and Arizona can make a difference.

“Sheriff,” he writes in his book, “you are the sworn protector. You cannot shrink from that duty merely because the violator comes to town with a three-piece suit and a fancy attache case.”

Reporter Vince Devlin can be reached at (406) 319-2117 or at vdevlin@missoulian.com.



Mack in Hamilton

Richard Mack, author of “The County Sheriff: America's Last Hope” speaks Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the First Interstate Center at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds in Hamilton. A 6 p.m. potluck dinner precedes the event; donations accepted.

 

[Archbishop]

A good article. Well written.

 

[czar996]

Thanks for posting. Very nice article!

 

[CulpeperMM]

we should each buy a copy to send to our local sheriff (after reading ourselves first).

 

[oldfb]

I read this post and was filled with hope. However there was a time when the Sheriffs were the ones who eventually ran for Govenors and higher office while living the "lie".

Change for the better is good!
Discovering what the oath means is such a perfect example of positive change.
Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you to all LEO that share this same committment to us.

 

[mattfoley]

Where do I get this book?


Right here of course


Only $9

I'm thinking group buy on this to every Sheriff in Indiana. What say you INGO?

 

[TopDog]

This really made me feel better.

“We can have our country back,” Mack said, “but if you think the answer is in Washington, D.C., I've got beachfront in Oklahoma for you.”

It gives me hope that there really are a lot less sheep than I first suspected. I'm going to buy this book read it first. If its as good as this one piece we have just seen I will buy more copies and give it to friends that are police officers.

 

[jedi]

Where do I get this book?


Right here of course


Only $9

I'm thinking group buy on this to every Sheriff in Indiana. What say you INGO?

How many sherriff's in IN?
I can see this being a possibility.

 

[TopDog]

I just ordered 3 books from sheriffmack.com

America's Last Hope
From My Cold Dead Fingers
The Proper Role Of Law Enforcement

I'm really looking forward to reading these. Thanks for starting this thread.

 

[TopDog]

How many sherriff's in IN?
I can see this being a possibility.

Its only $8 in bulk. If you want to do the leg work, I'm willing to participate in a group buy.

 

[CulpeperMM]

YouTube - Oath Keeper Sheriff Richard Mack

Sheriff Mack on OathKeepers... good video!

 

[melensdad]

Where do I get this book?


Right here of course


Only $9

I'm thinking group buy on this to every Sheriff in Indiana. What say you INGO?

How many sherriff's in IN?
I can see this being a possibility.

Mattfoley - If you can organize it, I'd be in for a $50 donation to pay for some books!

I'd also suggest a nice presentation letter to go with it, maybe FENWAY will allow you to use the INGO logo and this can be an official INGO event, albeit a mail-in event instead of a group meet up.

 

[rambone]

I'm in. I would donate. My research tells me that there are 92 counties in Indiana. Am I correct in assuming there is one sheriff's office for each county?

If so, we need 92 books @ $8.00/ea, meaning $736. Unless we can get a better bulk price.

In your cover letter, I think you should include the following passage. It is the heart of the problem with our government.

Mack said the Constitution gives the federal government the authority to police exactly four areas: treason, piracy, treaty violations and counterfeiting.

“The other 5,000 they've stolen and usurped from state and local authorities,” he said. “The very people who have promised us they will protect and defend the Constitution are the ones who are destroying it.”

This way we could show them that the federal government has no business doing what they are doing.

 

[jeremy]

I grew up being taught that the Sheriffs, Police, and the entire Judicial System were the first line of Defense against the Government, and the Military as the last line.
Because once the Military steps in it is very hard to salvage a society at that point.

 

[hotfarmboy1]

That is a very good article. And probably a really good book. I'm prob gonna buy one myself. And would be up for chipping in some money for a group buy to give to our counties.

 

[jedi]

Rambone beat met me to the county list but the GRADN TOTAL for this project will be $1177.60.

$736 for 92 books; 1 for each sherriff.
List of current sherriffs: Sheriffs' Association of Indiana

$441.60 for 92 USPS Priority Mail FLAT RATE envelopes for mailing

GRAND TOTAL = $1,177.60

Yes a letter should be included if this will become an INGO event. We can omit the cost of printing the letters.

So can we raise that much?

ps.
I'm willing to order and mail all these books but unless we can raise the funds it's a no-go. Letme email the author to see if we can get a deeper discount. One sec...

 

[tyler34]

we've got more than enough members, if we contribute a dollar each we would easily have this paid for.

 

[jedi]

PS... just sent the following email to him.
----
Dear Sheriff Mark,

I came upon your book from a post in the Indiana Gun Owners (INGO) forum.
https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/politics_laws_and_2nd_amendment/43289-sheriffs_are_our_last_line_of_defense.html

In the thread we are discussing doing a group order to buy and send to all 92 sheriffs in Indiana your book. We see that you have a bulk order of $8 per book and were wondering if this is the lowest price for bulk orders. Some of the members on the board were also interested in getting the book so the final order may be over 92.

Hoping to hear from you soon,


----
aka jediagh on the INGO forums

 

[rambone]

$441.60 for 92 USPS Priority Mail FLAT RATE envelopes for mailing

GRAND TOTAL = $1,177.60

Shipping definitely needs to be accounted for. But might I make a suggestion? Rather than the Flat Rate shipping at $4.xx each, send them via USPS Media Mail for $2.xx each, and buy a case of 100 envelopes from staples, for roughly $0.50 each when bought in bulk. I have run a small ebay store for a few years and have always done it this way to cut costs.

 

[jedi]

Here is what we still need.

1) Get Fenway's (??SP??) attention on this topic to see if we will OK an offical letter with the INGO logo
2) A draft letter for the sherriffs
3) The group buy post (I can start it later today provided we hear from the sherriff on the cost.
4) Need to work on a set of goals of when/how long we have before we send out all the books provided we get the money.
5) Logistics of the money (cash, money orders, checks, paypal etc..)